We all arrived in Fernie for the start of the Trans Rockies with a solid Whistler contingent, having scored a great compound at the home of Marvin and Kathy Hirano who used to run Grinders here in Whistler. There was some rain in the forecast for the week of the race, but spirits were high.
The weather was wickedly hot at the start of Stage 1 with the mercury tipping 38 degrees as we rolled out of town at a very civil pace. Everyone loved the course, which finished in Sparwood and featured over 25 kilometres of sweet single-track that ripped up and down with some very steep climbs. The heat took its toll as lots of riders, myself included, just couldn’t get any food in our stomachs.
After the race everyone dove into the river and cooled their legs and began the process of setting up camp. Food was serious business, and when our stomachs began to feel better we crammed in as much as we could in preparation for the 135 km stage that awaited us in the morning.
The day was perfect for racing as we rolled out of Sparwood under blue skies and puffy cartoon clouds.
About 45 km into the stage, however, I took a major digger at close to 65 km/h on a downhill section and wound up in the ditch with a real sore shoulder and a huge gash in my right arm that took 23 stitches to close. Not only did I think my race was over but also my riding season since I had heard a crunch and a pop in one of my three rag-doll flips. I thought for sure it was a collarbone or at least separated shoulder.
Happily, however, it was a punctured gel pack and I would live to race another day. Just not that day.
Once some other riders helped me up out of the ditch, my riding partner John Blok climbed back up and made sure I was okay. He stayed with me until the Moto Medic came on the scene. Once I was in good hands the "Cricket" – little guy, loves the heat – began his solitary 60 km climb up a wickedly steep road and hike-a-bike section without me along to share the load.
The first aid crew was top notch and they had me back to the finish and stitched up just in time to see John roll in. Needless to say he was very happy to see me walking and talking and seriously considering lining up in the morning for another 140 km of torture. Once I woke up in the morning, however, it was not to be as I couldn’t even hold onto my handlebars and the wound was still too fresh to take the jarring we could expect on this bumpy stage.
Luckily Bill Letham, who was doing support for some other riders, threw my plate on his bike and took huge pulls for John all day long with me relegated to driving a motor home full of beer with another victim who had toasted her knee. John and Bill finished that 140 km stage in a punishing six hours, averaging better than 20 km/h on some tough terrain.
The following morning I was feeling a bit better and jumped back on my saddle only to face the worst day ever on a mountain bike. The rain finally hit, and we faced over 60 km of clay-based trails that had the consistency of fresh concrete, and there were multiple river crossings.
The clay stuck to everything it touched, to the point that your wheels would triple in size until they finally stopped turning.
Everyone was gutted by the end of the day and a larger number of participants took a trip to hypothermia land as the temperature plummeted to just three degrees at the high point of the trail, while the icy winds picked up.
The first aid folks all had worried looks on their faces when they recognized that this day could get very ugly should people be out there too long.
This was some pretty rugged country with no visibility in the alpine and some idiots were riding in only shorts and jerseys with all the wrong planets lined up. Fortunately everyone made it in and thanked the organizers for having the foresight to rent a 14-person portable shower which had more than enough water for the over 350 riders who needed 10 minutes under the faucet just to get their core temperatures back to warm.
After stuffing our stomachs with as much food as we could grab we dragged all of our gear back to our wet tents and fell into deep comas as the sound of rain pounded on nylon.
One of our Whistler group, Hillary Harrison – who was leading the women’s field with teammate Nikki Kassel – had come down with one nasty cold which was bordering on bronchitis and we were all worried what would happen if she rode in the morning. But true to her Whistler roots she sucked it up and put in a heroic effort, trying her best to limit the losses and keep her team in a solid second position.
Meanwhile the father-son team of James and Eric Crowe plowed on like true champions, keeping up with some of the top riders in the world to finish in sixth place overall.
I can’t begin to put into words how tough this race is, and how supportive everyone was. The medical team saw over 250 riders for various injuries and ailments, and that’s out of a field of just 350 teams. I was blown away by how the desire to ride just bubbled out of the group.
The following day we faced another seven hours-plus in the hack but were finally treated to a stunning day with blue skies and over 60 km of singletrack trails on the 111 km course. The highlight of the day was a black border collie who joined me on a rock in a massive meadow valley and then proceeded to hammer the remaining 60 km to the finish while never missing a turn at the front. I don’t know where he came from but my gut tells me it was our buddy Lumpy come back to take the major pulls and get all the boys back to the safety of the tent and some cold beer.
Once that stage was over we got cleaned up and went down for some solid chow and stared grimly at the map of what awaited us in the morning as the rain began to hammer relentlessly on our tents once again.
When I woke up in the morning the rain was still bouncing off of the ground and the whole group of riders had a very concerned look on their faces as we faced more than 85 km with over 2,700 metres of climbing. As we rolled out on the road for the first 8 km everyone looked at the black clouds looming over the climbs we were to grovel up this day.
Fortunately the sun came out and baked the wet clay into a hellish mess that just decimated drive trains, but it was better than the oppressive rain and clouds that were like something out of Mordor.
The day finished at the stunning Rafter 6 Ranch and the ragged bunch was treated to a true Alberta all-you-can-throw-down-your-gullet beef BBQ.
The food was incredible and so was the hospitality. And the next morning, the final day of riding, began under a beautiful blue sky.
The bright spot for me was the strength and skill of James Crowe and his father Eric, who as a father and son team showed just what it means to be family, with mother Michelle and daughter Nadine holding down the fort and locating all their camp sites right next to generators.
The biggest thanks, however, goes out to my partner John "Cricket" Blok who helped me get my battered ass to the start line each morning after that nasty crash and rolled his eyes as I cracked open my bottle of Appleton’s Rum that I had been saving in my gear bag.
The night was filled with tales of triumph and torture over the seven days and over 600 km of racing over the Rockies. Never before have I been so impressed with a group of people facing a difficult challenge together and sharing tools, parts, food and inspiration.
For anyone interested in signing up for next year and hitting the start line in Fernie check out the website at www.transrockies.com
Results:
The team of Andreas Hestler and Marty Lazarski won the men’s open category by more than 35 minutes with a combined time of 29 hours and eight seconds after seven days of racing. They were followed by Canadians Troy Misseghers and Neil Grover in 29:35:37 and Urs Senn and Daniel Senn of Switzerland in 31:50:17.
Eric and James Crowe, who won a contest to represent Race Face in the Transrockies, were sixth out of 64 teams in a time of 32:49:18.
John Blok and Grant Lamont were relegated from the 80-plus Mixed category to the Unclassified category after Lamont was forced to pull out during the second stage. Their total time was 49:39:54, which put them sixth out of 24 Unclassified teams.
Meanwhile the Whistler team of Hillary Harrison and Nikki Kassel were second in the women’s open category with a time of 39:54:04, over two hours back of Trish Stevenson of the U.S. and Karen Masson of Australia.
Registration for the fourth annual TransRockies Challenge sold out with 350 teams taking part.
